native fields

[Davewp]

Would be interested to hear what your doing to create natural habitat, not food plots, to sustain a variety of wildlife. Go...

 

[Native Hunter]

I'm doing something I have named "Ditch Farming." In the ditches between my native grass fields I killed the large useless trees like maples, gums, etc. so that a flush of new native growth would come up. Then once or twice a year I just drive by in my pickup truck and spray tanks in the back and nuke anything coming up that is not good - leaving the plants that I want. Here are some reasons I do this:

• Ditches are usually wasted space. Now we can make them useful.
• The soil is generally very fertile because nothing is ever taken off of it.
• The moisture is good in ditches.
• Sunlight is good.
• It's easy to drive by once a year with a sprayer and take care of what you don't want.
• You can also use a pole saw from the edges to cut stuff down if you don't want to spray.
• Great native plants come up - jewel weed, persimmon, blackberry, elderberry, hazelnut, sumacs, vining honeysuckles, arrowwood viburnum, dogwoods, etc.
• It's basically free and easy. You would not even need to spray every year. I could do it once every three years or even more.
• It's fun seeing what pops up next.
• You can balance the plant community to suit your wants. Blackberry is good, but if you start getting too much of it, you can kill a section and let other plants come up to replace it. Basically you can do anything you want easily.

Some of the best habitat I have is in ditches. I've set in the stand many times and watched the deer walk along the edges like a buffet line. Not sure why more people aren't doing this. Best wishes.

 

[Bill]

The best natives I've planted are black elderberrys, American plum and red osier dogwoods. Once they set roots it's game on no matter how much they get hammered.

Interesting ditch idea Native. Mine seem to attract blackberries and willows.

 

[ksgobbler]

Planted native grasses, removing invasive cedar hedge etc, prescribed fire is the big one. Also took control of sericea lespedeza so the native grasses could come back, and chemically treated broke and fescue to give native grasses a fighting chance. I’ve also planted a bunch of shrubs to establish quail covey headquarters.

 

[Native Hunter]

The best natives I've planted are black elderberrys, American plum and red osier dogwoods. Once they set roots it's game on no matter how much they get hammered.

Interesting ditch idea Native. Mine seem to attract blackberries and willows.

One thing I get a lot of that I don't want is wild cherry. I just let them grow up about 8 feet high and do a drive by spraying......

 

[Bill]

Planted native grasses, removing invasive cedar hedge etc, prescribed fire is the big one. Also took control of sericea lespedeza so the native grasses could come back, and chemically treated broke and fescue to give native grasses a fighting chance. I’ve also planted a bunch of shrubs to establish quail covey headquarters.

I consider quail one of my best success stories. Couldn't buy when I got there. Now thier rodents. And you can't sit in the yard and not hear pheasants cackling. I know for sure they made out better than the deer with my changes.

 

[Davewp]

Planted native grasses, removing invasive cedar hedge etc, prescribed fire is the big one. Also took control of sericea lespedeza so the native grasses could come back, and chemically treated broke and fescue to give native grasses a fighting chance. I’ve also planted a bunch of shrubs to establish quail covey headquarters.

shrubs? such as..... I started with Adams, john, bob gordon and black elderberry. adding wildewood and ozark this yr. last had dogwood and arrowwood added in. few button brush in low spots. other suggestions?

 

[ksgobbler]

This year was fragrant sumac, American plum, golden currants, and choke cherry. Last year was plum, serviceberry, Buffalo berry, and fragrant sumac. I also have a contract for tree removal to help the quail. All the hackberry, elm, locust, cedars, pecans, etc must go.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I am generally just knocking back stands of 40 to 50 year old red maple, spruce, poplar, birch, cherry, etc to generate some earlier successional growth. I have a ton of spruce and fir and my property that just shades out all sunlight. It's too tall for bedding or cover habitat for anything. Knocking it back gets sunlight on the forest floor and results in all kinds of native forbes, grasses, and other succulent growth. I also plant all kinds of native trees and shrubs...hazelnut, dogwoods, ninebark, sreviceberry, etc. I have seen increased numbers of grouse, woodcock, and snowshoe hare.

 

[JFK52]

I put in a 12 acre prairie with 7 grasses and about 20 forbs 25 years ago. It benefits butterflies, song birds, grouse, turkeys, deer, mice, ants, fox and more. I do a controlled burn on it every 4 to 5 years. I am extremely proud of this project as there are very few land owners who are interested in native prairie restoration or preservation. I dedicated 10% of my total acreage to a prairie.
Another project was clear cuts of 15 acres of Scotch pine and 5+ acres black locust also 25 years ago. After the Scotch pine was eliminated I got a great natural regrowth of mostly oak with some cherry and popple. The black locust area has also produced regrowth but I am constantly finding and eliminating black locust trees in this spot. Without poisoning the entire locust grove, there will always be volunteer locust trees coming back in. I try to not let them get too big. This area has turned into an area that bucks prefer to use. I rarely venture into it because the thorns on the black locust trees can just tear one up. This area was a virtual desert before I eliminated the locust trees. The locust trees kept any sunlight from the understory.
I am very glad that I did these projects 25 years ago. It allows me the great joy of seeing the results of my efforts while I am still alive and kicking.
I also did a every third row red pine thinning done 4 years ago which proved to be a huge asset to the pine plantations. It allowed sunlight to get to the understory. I have a huge growth of elderberry and blackberry bushes in these areas. All first rows adjacent to fire lanes and road ways were taken out. I am just amazed by how much it changed my 30+ year old planted pine tree areas.

 

[SwampCat]

I have about 15 acres of primarily fescue pasture that I am killing and converting to NWSG. However, I have found that by far the most diversity occurs the year or two after I kill the fescue and before the NWSG takes over. My pure NWSG stands are basically biologic desserts. I dont burn my ground - I have taken many prescribed burning classes - and have learned when you are by yourself - you dont need to burn. My umbrella liability policy wont cover all my neighbor’s houses. I have 25 bee hives, so I am very interested in pollinators - of all sorts. I am also very interested in plant and animal diversity. That said - I am going to minimize my NWSG - favoring a diversity of species over a pure stand.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

prescribed fire to kill undesirable trees and brush. This creates a flush of native forb growth. A much more desirable browse. Desirable hardwoods such as oaks are typically not harmed and continue to thrive. Fires are tough to coordinate with everyone's busy schedules but they sure are a fun way to enjoy the outdoors with friends!

 

[Jordan Selsor]

This is a head fire that damaged a couple of my apple trees

 

[H20fwler]

Would be interested to hear what your doing to create natural habitat, not food plots, to sustain a variety of wildlife. Go...

I put in a native grass pasture with a couple wetland ponds in it along the woods.
Planted it to warm and cool season grasses big and little bluestem switch Indian grass along with Timothy and orchard grass with a few varieties of coneflower black eyed Susan and clovers mixed in.
Also surrounded it with shrub strips planted to pinoak ROD cranberry crab apple elderberry chestnuts buttonbush winterberry chokecherry hazelnut and dogwoods.
About the easiest shrub to grow for me that I’ve planted would be hazelnuts.
Also putting in a half acre plus pollinator strip full of native wildflowers and a nice mix of milkweeds for butterflies and bees next spring.
I wanted something that would benefit everything from bugs to deer year round.

 

[Davewp]

...
I wanted something that would benefit everything from bugs to deer year round.

What I'm talking about. I purchased a pollinator seed pack from IL DNR, told me best to plant after clearing area. Well, i'm dealing with canary grass that is best killed in fall, but seed pack only sold in spring, so pack is sitting in my refrigerator.
I'm liking all these ideas of different shrubs / browse to plant instead of trying to turn plant food plots.

 

[H20fwler]

I’m planning on spraying the area for pollinator strip in late July then again in late September that should clear it off good for a frost seeding end of February early March. At least that’s how the state biologist I work with suggested I do, hasn’t steered me wrong yet.

 

[ksgobbler]

Try a growing season burn Swampcat. Very easy to control and due to the timing it knocks back woody encroachment and stimulates forbs.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

We have a pond that was installed about 15 years ago, and besides the fish in it, it attracts ducks & geese, redwing blackbirds, and swallows that swoop over it to catch insects.
We've erected 3 bat houses.
I've planted serviceberries, American high bush cranberries, Washington hawthorns, ROD, and small-fruited " bird " crabapples that feed a multitude of wild birds.
I've collected and planted blackberry fruits from another location. We have wild blueberry around the property.
We've let several stands of milkweed grow and avoided mowing it down to attract Monarch butterflies.
Birds must have " dropped " some elderberry on our place - we have several patches of it and we didn't plant it.
We've logged 3 areas of the property in the last 20 years and mostly left it come up in whatever nature wanted. This includes stump sprouts, naturally seeded saplings, and we planted spruce, hemlock, pines, and balsam fir to supplement nature in those cut areas. Many weeds and forbs hatched as well.
We have many natural wildflowers, and we plant buckwheat each year. Though the buckwheat is food for deer, it attracts loads of pollinators of all sorts.

 

[ksgobbler]

Here is a shot of my native stuff just south of my house. You can see the Indian grass, big blue, etc. You can also see milkweed, maximillian sunflower, common sunflower, yellow clover, butterfly milkweed, sericea lespedeza (that stuffs the devil), American plum, common ninebark, and I know I missed some in that description.

 

[MickT]

I have about 15 acres of primarily fescue pasture that I am killing and converting to NWSG. However, I have found that by far the most diversity occurs the year or two after I kill the fescue and before the NWSG takes over. My pure NWSG stands are basically biologic desserts. I dont burn my ground - I have taken many prescribed burning classes - and have learned when you are by yourself - you dont need to burn. My umbrella liability policy wont cover all my neighbor’s houses. I have 25 bee hives, so I am very interested in pollinators - of all sorts. I am also very interested in plant and animal diversity. That said - I am going to minimize my NWSG - favoring a diversity of species over a pure stand.

Then why plant? Just let the field be what it will without adding aggressive grasses.


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